Most drivers have experienced the effects that sun light can have on a driver or occupant of the vehicle at a certain time of the day. For example, sunlight can shine into an automobile and detrimentally affect the visibility of electronic displays, LCD panels used for navigation and entertainment, and mirrors used by an operator of the vehicle. The suns rays impinging upon vehicular components can, at best be an annoyance to the driver and at worst, be a serious safety hazard.
For example, as can be seen in FIG. 1, which is a side view of a vehicle 104, the sun rays 102 from the sun 100 can impinge on the vehicle 104. As the earth rotates, the position of the sun 100 relative to the vehicle 104 changes and the sun rays 102 impinge on different components in the vehicle 104. FIG. 2 is a top view of the vehicle 104 showing potentially different sun 100 positions around the vehicle 104. The position of the sun 100 relative to the vehicle 104 can vary due to the heading of the vehicle 104 and the current position of the sun 100 at the particular location and time. As the position of the sun 100 changes, the vehicle components that can be detrimentally affected by the sun rays 102 can also change. Additionally, different vehicles 104 have different physical configurations, such as window locations, body frame member locations, location of different interior components, and the like. Therefore, the position of the sun 100 relative to the vehicle 104 can affect vehicular components in different ways, depending on the design of the vehicle 104.
Currently, the solution to this problem is fairly limited. Mirrors, LCD panels, and the brightness of electronic displays can be manually adjusted. While automatic dimming of electronic displays has been introduced, these systems work to change the brightness of an electronic display from a first level to a second level based on whether it is day or night.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a method and system for adjusting vehicular components due to sun position. Furthermore, the desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will be apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.